Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

I subscribe all the time .. and easy to stop if you want but your choice.

don’t miss out though , Dobies is a reputable company .

Spruce

 

Just got a text message saying it's from DWP and it says I only have till the 30th of March to apply for a £300 subsidy, subsidy for what?
They kindly included a link for me to make the claim.

 

Can anyone explain why this year all household bills are rising on the 1st of April, I know its the start of the new year, but dont remember them all rising on the same date before.

What will this do to the inflation figures for April I wonder.

 

Just had my Morrisons grocery delivery, in it was a bottle of Bacardi, for medicinal reasons,
Anyway the driver said they have not taken off the security cap, the thing they remove at the till on anything likely to get nicked, so he said have you got a screwdriver I might be able to get it off, well I thought that was vodka and orange but anyway I got a couple of various sizes, but after getting rum all over my front step he gave up.

I said I'll get it off with a hacksaw and he left.

After 10 minutes with a pair of wire cutters and a hacksaw I finally got it off, but the metal screw cap was well inside the plastic "stupid thing", so hit it with a club hammer, it shot across the room and completely destroyed the metal cap.
Thankyou Morrisons, you idiots, take these stupid things off before sending them out for delivery.
I've complained and hope for another bottle free.

 

Oh dear Pete, that's quite a saga. You were lucky not to smash the bottle!

When my S/M delivered a bottle with the security thingy, the driver said he wasn't allowed to give it to me so I had to hand it back.

 

Why do they do this?
Until recently deliveries came from a whare house, now they are sourcing them and picking them from local stores.
I just wonder about the intelligence of those involved, or possibly just those managers.

 

@pete they raise the prices April 1st so they can claim 2nd quarter revenues are higher than last.

 

I've just renegotiated my gas and electricity contract, so it will actually DECREASE by £10 per month (based on identical usage as the previous year), starting 30th March this year.
With the same supplier.
Now they will probably extend winter, and/or nighttime.

 

I am amazed that many of you over there have the option to negotiate any utilities. Our gas, electric, water are all, "take it or leave it" with no chance to change rates. Even the smart meters were forced on us and those only raised our bills no matter how much we tried to time shift our usage.

I have to moan about the tree rats and our plastic coating on wires. A lot of our wire casings have canola oil in their make up. I never knew this until a few years ago when I started doing a bit of poking around on the interweb to find out why the squirrels keep chewing on them. I wish there was some way they could make the wiring taste horrible to the critters because nearly every year there are shorts in my greenhouse wiring from gnawing. The wire sheath is darned thick so it must take a lot of chewing to get down to copper. Too bad it's only 12v. If it had of been powerful stuff, the tree rats would no longer be a problem..

 

@pete I've almost given up on Morrisons online ordering. They're very tempting because they can be really cheap on some things (got three packs of scallops from them for a tenner recently) and the minimum spend is low compared to others at £25, but they lack a "no substitutes" option and if I rejected their substitutes sometimes I would be left with almost half of my order missing!

Sainsbury's are by far the best for online groceries IME. You get Nectar points, a "no substitute" option (although you have to go down the list and untick every new item, where Waitrose allows you to do this to your entire shopping basket with just two clicks) and refunds are really simple. Plus they always promptly email me the hourly delivery window of my Saver Slot order, usually very early in the morning. Waitrose are supposed to do this too, but they often send the email at the last minute or not at all!

A year ago, I would have said Waitrose were the best, but their QC with food seems to get worse and worse. Have had runny tomatoes in the past and a quiche with a huge lump of cheese or cheese rind in the middle of it a few weeks ago! They're also no longer prepared to arrange a refund at my doorstep when there's a problem with an item from the previous order. Shame, because some of the food can be fantastic. Now I typically spend just above the minimum order and mostly buy stuff from their Easy to Cook range, which has been consistently decent.

Nick

 

No SM deliveries here but there is a Click and Collect option for people who really can't manage it themselves. However, I much prefer to browse and select my shopping myself. I always have a list which reduces impulse buying and my loyalty app always has a 10% off fruit and veg offer and often the same on meat and poultry or the fresh fish counter or cheese and dairy.

IF OH comes too we often have a coffee and he'll have a naughty pastry and the SM is handy for any GC of DIY goodies I may need.

What's not to like?

 

Like @Obelix-Vendée, I would always prefer to shop "personally" but as I can no longer drive and OH will have to give up before too long, the option will be SM deliveries. Quite a few people I know in a similar situation.